Are  you looking for STEM enrichment activities for kids? This site is packed with fun, easy, play-tested projects that work, whether you’re a parent of one or a teacher of many.

Activities include art projects, crafts, science experiments, games, building projects, recommended songs, books, sensory play, snacks, free printable worksheets and more, all grouped by these STEM themes – click on any link to find a full lesson plan.

• Science: What is a Scientist
• Earth and Space Science:
  • Astronomy: Stars and Constellations; Planets and Space Travel
  • Geology: Earth and Earthquakes; Rocks
  • Meteorology: Weather; the Wind
• Life Science:
  • Biology: Human Body; Skeletons; Habitats, Adaptations, Eggs, Seeds & Plants, Ocean Life
  • Five Senses: Overview, Vision, Touch, Taste, Smell, Hearing, Science of Sound
  • Zoology: Dinosaurs; Bugs; Animal Classification, Farm Animals.
• Physical Science:
  • Chemistry: States of Matter, Mixtures and Solutions, Dramatic Reactions – Things that go boom! and a Sequence of Experiments
  • Physics: Force – Pushes and Pulls, Magnets, Gravity; Electricity, Light and Shadow, Rainbows, Sink or Float, Projectiles
• Math and Engineering: What is an Inventor? What is an Engineer?
  • Measurement;
  • Simple Machines Unit: Overview of Simple Machines, Inclined Plane, Lever, Wedge, Screw, Wheel and Axle, Pulleys
  • Machines: Cars; Submarines; Robots, Flight
  • Building: Towers, Strong Structures (includes Bridges), Building a House, Contraptions and Rube Goldbergs
• Teaching STEM
  • Some Theory: Science Process Skills, Teaching Math Skills, Parent Role in a Parent-Child Class, Class Structure, Music and STEM Learning
  • Big Picture Ideas for Class (span across all themes): Science Themed Snacks,  Rhythm Curriculum, Kids Songs about Science, Recommended Books, and the Ultimate Guide to Sensory Play,
  • Cool Tools to Build for the Classroom: Wind Tube, Scarf Cannon / Ball Levitator, a Chladni plate substitute that makes sound vibration visible, DIY Ball Wall.
  • Be sure to check out my resource page for Recommended Books, Blogs, Websites, Apps, Videos and Podcasts.
  • Fifteen Minute Focus series. Most of my posts are based on my experience teaching a play-based class where children have free choice of what child-led activity to do and for how long. This series is designed for teachers (preK-2) who want to do a focused everyone-does-the-same-activity-together STEM lesson.
• Science Books for Kids: I’ve written a few books to go with our curriculum that you can print and use. They are aimed at 3 – 6 year old children and include ideas for activities and experiments. Robots. Chemistry – Let’s Mix It Up. Light and Shadow. Electricity.
• More fun stuff: I also have a collection of cool science fair projects and reviews of science museums across the country. There are additional posts on STEM topics and on outdoor/nature education on my blog More Good Days with Kids.

How we play-tested these activities:

For the past ten years, I’ve been teaching a STE(A)M enrichment class called Family Inventors’ Lab, which focuses on hands-on learning and exploration of science, engineering, and nature. It is a multi-age, parent-child class for preschool to elementary age kids, from 3 – 7 years old. The focus is on tinkering: making things, testing them, re-building them, testing again, and learning in the process. Check out our video overview of some of our favorite preschool STEM projects.

Most projects use only free or low cost materials, most of which people already have. Our goal is to encourage families to “try this at home” and make  experimenting a part of their daily lives. We do use a few special themed toys, like our toy conveyor belt, Archimedean screw and domino train.

We have a new theme for each week’s lesson plan. Every post on this site contains enough easy activity ideas for a 2 hour long class on that theme. If you’re a homeschooling parent or a preschool that meets multiple times a week, you might choose to do a few theme activities each day throughout a one-week curriculum unit on the theme. If you’re planning a science themed birthday party, you might choose simple activities from a variety of themes. (Some of the best party themes would be: Robots, Dinosaurs, and Build a House.) Many of these themes would also work for a DIY Summer Camp or Vacation Bible School curriculum.

Sources:

Inspiration for the activities comes from many places, including blogs and websites (I include links to sources, and I’ve pinned lots of my favorite ideas at www.pinterest.com/bcparented/), children’s museums and science museums that we visit, and books such as Tinkerlab, The Curious Kid’s Science Book, the Growing Up Wild Activity Book, and more (check out my book reviews) and the clever minds of my co-teachers, Cymbric, Angela, Monisha, and Peter. I include Amazon Affiliate links, in case you want to learn more about products or books that I refer to. (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) However, rather than buying lots of products, I recommend you get your books from your local library, and use items out of the recycling bin or re-useable goods from thrift shops as much as possible!

Copyright note:

If you live anywhere other than Western Washington, you are welcome to use any idea that I share in the Inventors of Tomorrow series, even including the full lesson plans. If you work in King County: It’s OK to use some of the individual ideas here but I ask that you do not duplicate our curriculum in any class offered in King County. Thanks!

Learn more about me – www.JanelleDurham.com